PRECIOUS-Gold hovers below 2-week high, but eyes second weekly gain

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Gold prices traded just below a two-week
high on Friday, pressured by a firmer dollar, but was on track
to log a second consecutive week of gains.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,265.99 an
ounce at 0102 GMT, after hitting $1,268.91 - its highest level
since Dec. 6 - in the previous session.
* It was up 0.85 percent for the week.
* U.S. gold futures slipped 0.1 percent to $1,269.4
an ounce.
* The dollar edged up on Friday though remained on track for
weekly losses.
* Asian stocks edged up on Friday on new data pointing to
steady growth in the U.S. economy, while the euro slipped after
a vote in Catalonia favoured separatists wanting to break away
from Spain.
* Republicans in the U.S. Congress on Thursday advanced
stopgap legislation to keep the federal government operating
past Friday when funding expires, seeking to avert a
self-inflicted disaster just before the Christmas holiday
season.
* More than 120 countries defied President Donald Trump on
Thursday and voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly
resolution calling for the United States to drop its recent
recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
* The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in more than two
years in the third quarter, powered by robust business spending,
and is poised for what could be a modest lift next year from
sweeping tax cuts passed by Congress this week.
* The federal tax bill that Congress approved this week is
expected to provide a modest lift to the U.S. economy in 2018
and 2019, as lower taxes should help consumer spending and
business spending, J.P. Morgan economists said on Thursday.
* The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday
and its governor said economic improvements alone would not
trigger a withdrawal of stimulus, reassuring markets it will lag
well behind its overseas peers in ending crisis-mode easing.
* The Moscow Exchange will launch deliverable futures for
gold in 2018 in a move to further prop up bullion market
liquidity, bourse chief executive Alexander Afanasiev said on
Thursday.
* Workers at Pan African Resource's ,
flagship gold mine in South Africa embarked on a wildcat strike
on Sunday in a dispute over living allowance, an industry source
with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
DATA/EVENT AHEAD (GMT)
U.K. GDP Q3
(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina
Gibbs)